Awesome Thread

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It's pretty weird, but there are bits of awesome here and there.

www.allyn.com
 
[video=youtube;-KxjVlaLBmk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KxjVlaLBmk[/video]
 
:jawdrop::blowup:

I for one welcome our new robot pen-twiddling overlords.
 
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Decepticons, DECEPTICONS! I warned you guys there was trouble!

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*+rep for anyone who names the character *

(whithout cheating) :p
 
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Which is not necessarily an advantage, e.g. it's a disadvantage in a head-on collision.

And yes, my point is that there is already viable high-speed public transport in Germany, in the form of ICE trains. However, even the Chinese who run the only commercial line anywhere in the world are building conventional railways everywhere and not maglev lines.

I'm sure in almost every circumstance not derailing is better, the ICE disaster springs immediately to mind.
 
I kind of like the maglev trains for their speed and for some practical reason. Committing suicide is harder, running level crossing is impossible and the largest animal you will encounter on the tracks is a goose or some other bird, so with these out, there is a lot less chance for delays. Also these should work in the snow :D
Well, it is possible to build regular trains tracks elevated, too. It just isn't done because it's too expensive. They did it with the Transrapid exactly because of it's speed.

And yes, my point is that there is already viable high-speed public transport in Germany, in the form of ICE trains.
Even the ICE reaches its top speed only on very few sections because we didn't build the infrastructure as well as the trains. Plus, it stops so often an even faster train would probably be pointless.

The maglev technology is pretty awesome, but due to the incompatibility with the already widely used normal trains it won't ever have a chance. When building a completely new railway infrastructure in a country that doesn't have any (and has enough money) is another matter. So, when we build colonies on Mars, perhaps.
 
Well, it is possible to build regular trains tracks elevated, too. It just isn't done because it's too expensive. They did it with the Transrapid exactly because of it's speed.

Well not only because its speed, but also because of its design (i.e. being wrapped around the rail itself). If one wants the Transrapid to run on level ground, the earth has to be dug out. High speed rail tracks don't have any level crossings and are fenced off as well, so that getting onto the tracks accidentally is difficult. The ICE however can run upto 200 km/h on normal tracks.
 
The ICE however can run upto 200 km/h on normal tracks.
Which is not a speed worthy of being called "high". From my Eastern Ruhr Area point of view, there's exactly one destination (Berlin) where the ICE can take me faster than I can drive myself - and I do compare it to the usual 130 kph recommended speed on German autobahns. High-speed train my ass.
 
Ah quit your bitching. In the 1970's we produced a high speed train that could travel at 240kph on the notoriously twisty West Coast Main Line with no modification to the track by tilting into the corners. Despite it only costing a tiny fraction of what the Concorde had cost Britain the government pulled the plug on the funding and the idea got canned.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Passenger_Train

And what is serving the West Coast Main Line now?

Italian designed, French built tilting Pendolino trains. :mad:
 
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Which is not a speed worthy of being called "high". From my Eastern Ruhr Area point of view, there's exactly one destination (Berlin) where the ICE can take me faster than I can drive myself - and I do compare it to the usual 130 kph recommended speed on German autobahns. High-speed train my ass.

You are probably right, the frequent stops and the lack of high speed tracks, don't help with travel time. Eastern Ruhr area means Dortmund right? I think you might be quicker in Paris by train than by car, but it's the Thalys, so that would be cheating.
 
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